I. Field
The present invention relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for providing transparent broadcast services for a multi-mode wireless device capable of communicating with multiple wireless communication networks.
II. Background
Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various types of services such as voice, packet data, broadcast, and so on. These wireless networks include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks, and so on. A network typically refers to a deployment of a system, although these two terms are also used interchangeably.
Each wireless network utilizes a particular air interface to support over-the-air communication and typically further implements a particular mobile networking protocol that supports roaming and advanced services. For example, a CDMA network utilizes a CDMA air interface and an ANSI-41 networking protocol. The CDMA network may implement one or more CDMA standards such as IS-2000 (1xEV), IS-856 (1x-EVDO), IS-95, and so on. A GSM network utilizes a GSM air interface and a GSM Mobile Application Part (GSM-MAP) networking protocol. The GSM network implements GSM standard and may further support General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), which is a data bearer that allows wireless devices to send and receive data via an Internet Protocol (IP)-based network. A GSM/GPRS device can access data networks, such as the Internet, when operating in GPRS mode. A UMTS network utilizes a Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) air interface and the GSM-MAP networking protocol. The UMTS network implements 3GPP standard, which incorporates the GSM standard. These various standards are known in the art.
The GSM and UMTS networks may provide Cell Broadcast Service (CBS), which is a service that periodically broadcasts messages to users within the networks. Similarly, the CDMA network may provide a broadcast service that broadcasts messages to users within the network. The broadcast messages can carry various types of information such as news, traffic reports, weather information, and so on.
The broadcast services in GSM, UMTS and CDMA networks are implemented with Short Message Service (SMS), which is a service that supports the exchange of SMS or short messages between a wireless network and wireless devices (e.g., cellular phones). SMS is network technology dependent, and different SMS implementations have been defined for ANSI-41 and GSM-MAP. Each SMS implementation has different capabilities and utilizes different message types and formats for sending SMS messages. The SMS implementation for an ANSI-41 network is described in a document TIA/EIA-637-B, entitled “Short Message Service for Wideband Spread Spectrum Systems.” The SMS implementation for a GSM-MAP network is described in documents 3GPP TS 23.038, TS 23.040, and other 3GPP documents. These documents are publicly available. For simplicity, the SMS implementation for GSM-MAP is referred to as “GSM SMS”, and the SMS implementation for ANSI-41 is referred to as “CDMA SMS”. UMTS supports Broadcast Multicast Control (BMC), which can carry GSM and CDMA SMS messages.
A multi-mode wireless device can communicate with multiple wireless networks (e.g., GSM and CDMA networks) and may be able to receive broadcast messages from these networks. However, the broadcast messages for the GSM and CDMA networks have different formats because CDMA SMS and GSM SMS have different implementations. The different broadcast message formats complicate the reception of broadcast services from multiple wireless networks because a user may need to know which fields are applicable to each broadcast message format and how the fields should be interpreted and processed.
There is therefore a need in the art for techniques to support broadcast services for a multi-mode wireless device.